Monthly Archives: December 2015

Let’s face it. It’s getting more expensive to live in Kuala Lumpur, now that everything is on the rise. It started with the petrol price earlier this year. Followed by the implementation of the 6% GST, which has caused the prices of just about everything to increase. Even the prices of the supposedly unaffected items. Some even increased more than 6%.

Yes… Malaysian traders, big and small, are very quick to take advantage of the GST.

Early November 2015, RapidKL announced the new fare structure for the LRT and monorail, effective 2 December. The responses from the public were immediate: everyone disagreed with the new fares.

Who wouldn’t when the increase is more than 100% from the previous fare? Well, not all 100% but, instead of a gradual increase of a few cents over a period of time, the public was rammed (down the throat) with amounts that just don’t make sense.

Since we can’t really boycott and stop using the LRT, monorail, KTM commuter and buses to go to work, let’s think of some ways to reduce the impact of the price hike.

I’ll start with the 5 methods below. These are aside from the more usual methods like riding motorbikes, carpooling, work from home etc.

1. Ride a bicycle / scooter / rollerblade / rollerskate / skateboard.
Since cycling is the in thing now in KL, why not take a ride every morning to work? They do it in China, so why can’t we do it here too? Think of the benefits: you get to exercise everyday, you help in reducing air pollution, you won’t get stuck in traffic jam etc etc.

2. Walk / Jog.
Yessss… impossible as it sounds, you actually can walk or jog to your workplace. How long it takes depends on how far you stay and how fit you are. Of course, you will have to start walking around 3 in the morning, again depending on where you stay.

3. Ride a “sampan” / canoe / boat.
This only applicable if your house and office are near a river. Also applicable during monsoon season. But beware! The power that be may decide to charge toll.

4. Mi oficina mi casa.
Which means, my office is my house. You will definitely save a lot on utilities. Not to mention the monthly rental too.

5. “Puasa” all year long.
Not only will you save a lot on food, you will also get lots of “pahala” for “puasa sunat”. And eventually, you will get the body figure you want. Great, yes?

There you go… 5 additional ways of saving money during this disastrous time. What do you think? Doable? Hehehehe… If you have other ideas, feel free to share.